Pretty typical for the last month, hence no flying and no activity here. Its ironic that for a lot of the previous months its been financial issues which have grounded me, only to have the weather chip in when I finally get some money. I have our annual club competitions coming up soon and I'd like to get some practice in beforehand. Just so my competitors know I have entered in:

Bombing (now this is fun, and I believe everyone should give it a go)Life Raft Dropping (flying without a door on is fun enough, but you get to throw things out as well!)Circuits (I only do this to have a crack at the grid landing)Landings (see above)Forced Landings (well I haven't practised one of these for ages so it will be interesting to say the least)

If any of you lurkers are in NZ and want to have a go, come along. You don't have to be current, as an instructor acts as air judge (and instructor for those who need it). I would recommend that as a prerequisite you are comfortable with handling a plane in a circuit. Contact the Waikato Aero Club (link is in the side bar) and come have some fun.

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The club has obtained a shiny new (well, not really new, but fairly low time) Diamond DA-42 Twin Star. I'd been telling myself that I was going to buy an hour in a twin engined aircraft to broaden my horizons a little and check off somethings on my New Years list. The clubs previous twin was older than I am and had become a little temperamental in its advanced years. The new aircraft promises a 21st century approach to multi-engined flying that in a lot of ways is both easier and harder to fly.

I wasn't particularly apprehensive prior to getting into it and flying it for two reasons. One, I have a chunk of hours flying the Arrow which has retractable gear and a CSU. The mindset behind flying it would come in handy, namely the sheer speed at which it gets through the air means mentally you have to be at least 10 NM ahead of it because you need to slow it down well before you arrive.

Here's what DA42 ZK-WGA looked like on the morning I flew her:
Those of you with keen e…

Firstly Happy New Year to all my lurkers who read this blog. This year should see some interesting posts, but I'll keep the content secret until it's ready. OK, so the 2016 summary.

A flight in a taildraggerAerobatic flightFly somewhere I have never beenPass my class II medicalA ride in something coolNo - I found out I can fit into a SuperCub but I cannot operate the heel brakes because I'm too tall.No - still waiting but at least I now have a rating in an aerobatic aircraft!Yes - Hawera.Yes - yay!!No - I could say my friends 2016 VW Golf R but that doesn't count.
I finished the year with a tick over 260 hours. Now looking forward to 2017:

A flight in a taildraggerAerobatic flightPass my BFRFly somewhere I have never beenA ride in something cool
And in other news, the Aero Club has been transformed into Waikato Aviation after a review by a marketing company. The new name encompasses the three core aspects of the "Club" (we're still an incorporated socie…

I went on a quick trip around the circuit to maintain my currency in the Pa28. I noted that it had been 83 days since I had last flown an Archer and 57 days since I had last flown at all. The weather was damp but light winds and excellent visibility. After a preflight which included checking the flight surfaces for ice (they were wet but no ice had formed) I got the engine started in UFS second attempt. UFS is rather notorious for not liking cold days when it comes to engine starts, but 30+ year old machines can be temperamental and aircraft are no exception.

The ATIS had a current temperature of 3 degrees C, a dew point of 2 degrees C and an air pressure reading of 1033mb. Compared with the ISA standard (15 degrees C and 1013mb) that's 12 degrees and 20mb better than ISA, so the magic density altitude formula yields -2020ft. In real terms, the aircraft was going to perform well above average as it had a surplus of cool dense air for the engine and wings to work with.